Famille Du Pentium

I’m still sorting through the videos from the trip.  A few have been uploaded to my facebook wall… if you’re a friend, have a look.  Some will get posted here via YouTube once I have time to sort through the YouTube machine.

I’m torn on posting a review of the cruise itself.  I start to write it, then I putter out.  I’m not sure if my audience really cares about the minutae details of the boat.  School & Soccer season starts soon, and there will be plenty of blog material to post as that gets started.  Meh, I’ll figure it out and let you know.

So for those of you too tired, bored, afraid, or otherwise uninterested to look at all the pictures, in all their glory, or read all the blog entries, after the jump I’ll post some pictorial highlights from the trip.   There might be one or two more posts about the cruise, but it’s all starting to wrap up now.  Note: I haven’t gone through any of the pictures and deleted the stupid shots, finger-in-the-lens shots, or anything else boring.  You have been warned.  Now, where’s that pesky “more” button?  Oh yeah, here it is.

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Justin has a rather special skill – when he’s tired, no matter where he is, he can sleep.  It’s not that he’s narcoleptic or anything, he doesn’t fall asleep first thing in the morning or in the middle of playing.  But as the day progresses, and especially when he’s had a full day, he’ll fall asleep when he’s tired… no matter where he is, or what position he’s in.  I thought I would show you a few of the places and positions that he found.

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Here’s a quick break from the July UK Cruise posts.  This summer, Aaron has been participating in a gardening club at his school, McCracken.  Yesterday was the last day, and they were harvesting their garden.  Most of the food went to a food pantry, but the kids got to take home some veggies.  So Aaron came home with two tomatoes, a jalapeno, and some basil as well as some other stuff.  So I’m sitting at the kitchen table, looking at these potentially delicious fresh veggies, thinking what kind of sandwich I would make with them.  Then it dawned on me – something snapped, and I decided that I *really* wanted some Salsa.  With no cilantro, I had to Google “salsa no cilantro” and came up with some great recipes, which included basil instead of cilantro.

The only problem was lack of onions, and the recipe I decided on called for Balsamic vinegar.  I figured I could cheat a bit, and went to the store and bought a red onion and some Balsamic vinegar.  Came home, stuck everything in the blender, and then refrigerated for an hour, and – Viola! – I had Salsa, with (nearly) 100% ingredients grown by Aaron at McCracken.

Aaron tried it, and approves.  The recipe is after the jump.

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First, we marched in the Skokie 4th of July Parade, in the Skokie AYSO float.

Then, we went to the 4th of July festival and fireworks show.  You’ve seen fireworks before, so here are the kids.

I’ve hesitated to spread this via email, but blog posts are different.  You can always ignore it :).

A grass-roots effort is being mounted to bring the World Cup to the USA in 2018 or 2022; the point is that American viewership of World Cup games is the highest that it’s ever been, interest in Soccer is at an all-time high, and America would be a great host.

It also helps that Landon Donovan, who scored the winning goal against Algeria in this year’s World Cup, and who also played AYSO Soccer, is involved in the effort.

If you want to submit your electronic signature to the bid, go here: http://www.gousabid.com/page/s/sticker/.  Signing up will put your email address on their (non-sell) list, which you can then unsubscribe from.  Seattle, WA – my old home and home to my mom and brother, and I think a cousin, is one of the cities in the running to host the games.

Again, it’s about playing – not winning or losing.  Aaron and his tournament team-mates played hard, lost 3 and won 1, and had a blast.  Here are the pictures.

Aaron’s AYSO U14 tournament team attended practices for many weeks, endured drills upon drills and finally went to Rockford, Illinois for the “Rock Your Socks Off” tournament, a sort-of AYSO Area D tournament.  Despite losing several games, the team was pumped and enjoyed themselves thoroughly.  Pictures are HERE.

Earlier this week, we attended the MNASR (Maine Niles Association of Special Recreation) awards ceremony, where Ethan, Aaron and Justin were recognized with the MNASR Youth Participant(s) of the Year Award.

Erin Pool, while announcing the award, noted that Aaron is an honor student, band Trombonist, and team player.  She noted Ethan’s love of mathmatics and Justin’s improvement in swimming.  All three were recognized for their participation and athletic abilities in the MNASR program.

During the dinner, the MNASR program gave away three Cubs tickets to a randomly selected participant / awardee, and Aaron won the tickets!

Pictures of the boys accepting their award, and Aaron accepting his Cubs tickets are HERE.

Justin’s sixth birthday was on April 3rd, and today was his birthday party.  He had a shared party with his classmate / neighbor Noah, at Emily Oaks Nature Center.  First, a guide showed them around the nature center and had them play games, like chase (fox chasing rabbits) and other such outdoors games.  After the fun outdoors, we went inside to eat fruit, cupcakes, and beverages, and sang happy birthday to both of them.

Pictures here.